


Playing it Wrong

by jumpforjo



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, F/M, FWB!Petra, Indie Artist au, M/M, Marco PoV, Modern AU, Multi, a bunch of side pairings, artist!marco, bartender!Jean, coffeshop au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-12
Updated: 2014-04-18
Packaged: 2018-01-08 13:00:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1132947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jumpforjo/pseuds/jumpforjo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marco's a down on his luck artist who sees people in colors, and Jean's just a bartender who fell for the boy who makes his latte.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! I'm back with yet another stab at a chaptered fic :D  
> the original prompt:  
> Marco is an independant artist who accidentally meets with Jean at the cafe and asks him to be his model for paintings. Of course, they fall in love and end up living together.  
> (you can check out the original piece here: http://allexche.tumblr.com/post/71514650581/one-simply-does-not-draw-just-jeanmarco-cuddling )  
> I deviated um... a lot. But that's okay!! I hope you enjoy!

_I mean if love is just a game then how come it's no fun_

_If love is just a game how come I've never won_

_I guess maybe it's possible I might be playing it wrong_

_And that's why every time I roll the dice I always come undone_

**-Two Atoms in a Molecule//Noah & the Whale**

**✿✿✿**

Marco stared at the canvas in utter frustration. He hadn’t even bothered to pull out a pallet or brushes yet, just staring at the primed and stretched fabric with a pencil hanging loosely from his long fingers. Finally, he simply gave up, throwing the useless pencil at his easel and went to go take a shower before heading down the street to work.

Even the hot water wasn’t blessing him with any inspiration. He hadn’t produced a single gallery-worthy painting in almost a year, and he was beginning to lose hope, which certainly did not assist in his inability to produce anything worth a second glance. Just that morning, he’d received another email from one of his professors expressing disappointment with a link to an article by some snobby art critic who’d written about the scene expecting a lot more out of such a young and promising artist.

  
Marco dressed himself with half a mind, he yawned as he pulled a dark green t-shirt over his freckled, tan chest and tucked it into the regulation khakis. He peered out of the window at the overcast day and decided it was worth checking the forecast on his phone. No rain was expected, but it would definitely be chilly and he decided to throw a grey cardigan on while he was at it. With fifteen minutes to spare, Marco decided to head down the street and beg some form of breakfast off of Sasha or Connie, and maybe make himself some pity coffee.

  
Just walking to work was a hassle on mornings like this. He’d already worked himself into a stress headache from reading the articles. Marco either needed to get himself a new email, or stop checking it before he got to work so he’s have free access to alcohol and naps. Either way, he knew the erratic flashes of color would bother him in his already irritated state.

  
Though it used to be an inspiration for his work, the synesthesia was really just dragging him down. He’d seemingly exhausted all of the people he’d be able to just get to know while they modeled so he could capture the transformation of their colors. And that was exactly what the critics expected from him. Galleries that progress from colorful chaos to a settled hue that dominates the composition.

  
The day was grey enough without the half asleep masses of unattractive paper bag brown people milling about the sidewalks. He kept his eyes carefully trained on the ground, making sure to watch his step so he didn’t bump into anyone. It would be nice though, if other people could extend the same courtesy. Some burly businessman knocked into Marco, and caught completely off-guard, Marco toppled to the ground and landed square on his ass.

  
He shook his head to clear it before registering a couple different hands offering him assistance. Pursing his lips, he grabbed onto one of the hands and allowed himself to be pulled up, the man going out of his way to look Marco directly in the eyes to ask if he was okay. A flash of royal purple. “I’m fine, don’t worry, I just have to be on my way.”

  
Marco took the excuse to avert his gaze, straightened up and glanced around to make sure nothing had fallen out of his pockets. He gave the man who’d helped him an apologetic smile before turning away and continuing down the sidewalk, crossing his arms against the chilly air.

  
To his surprise, Hanji was actually downstairs organizing pastries in the display case. They smiled at him, “Hey hun, I’m helping out at the register today. I’m all caught up on grueling paperwork and need to remind myself that I really do love the coffeeshop.”

Marco grinned, “So Eren isn’t working today, is he?”

Hanji stuck out their tongue, “You caught me. Go make me some coffee.”

Marco obliged, turning on the coffee maker before tucking his head in the door of the kitchen, zeroing in on Connie, “Wanna help a man out and make him some breakfast?”

  
“I don’t know, do you deserve it?”

Marco pouted, really milking the puppy eyes, hoping to gain some sympathy. Connie rolled his eyes, “Fine, fine. I’ll see what I can do.”

Just as Connie agreed, the coffee maker made a familiar dinging noise. Marco poured a the coffee into a mug and blended in a few syrups and some cream before handing it to Hanji. They studied the cup for a moment, took a sniff and a sip, and a wide smile spread on their face.  
“I knew I hired you for a reason. Thank you Marco, if you’re going to make yourself a drink I’d get on it, we open in 7 minutes.”

Two minutes before service began, Marco managed to snarf down some kind of sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich on a bagel that Connie had presented him, and gulped down at least half a cup of coffee in a rush, burning his throat and scalding his tongue.

  
The difference between Hanji working in Eren’s place was immense, as everything was much more smooth and pleasant. Rather than shouting out orders and verbal abuses, Hanji would tell Marco, and Marco would pass food orders onto Sasha or Connie, depending on who was closer. There was also a significant drop in technical difficulties, since Hanji had more of a tendency to obsessively pick apart the issue to fix it, rather than scream at the register, or hit it.

  
Around noon, Connie made lunch for everyone, and Hanji had to go upstairs and work on some sort of management thing that Marco didn’t even want to think about. They’d left with a fervent apology and Marco sighed before straightening his back and plastering on a smile to work the register.

  
In the afternoon, people were less likely to order coffee, so him working both was plausible. Plus, if necessary, Sasha was pretty good with making coffee drinks.  
Of course, working the register was no easy task for Marco, he tended to avoid jobs that involved a lot of interaction on account of his synesthesia. Granted, people tended to look very dull to him until he started talking to them. Most people started off as either a muted green or red, depending on their first interaction. As Marco got to know people though, they became brighter and developed their own hue that would vary depending on mood.

  
He never quite figured out how people developed the hues they did, Hanji was a bright sunshine yellow. Sasha was an autumn orange. Connie was a royal blue. Colors had always guided Marco in his art, though, critics of his galleries always praising the “progressive” feel to his collections that was really just Marco getting to know his model and their color beginning to come through to him, but lately any models he tried to work with weren’t interested in getting to know each other.  
A few hours into working the register, one customer seemed put off by Marco. “Aren’t you the coffee boy?” Marco furrowed his eyebrows.

  
“Yes, but we’re a bit short handed today. What can I get for you?” He asked, only glancing briefly at the man, only taking a shock of light brown hair and a strong jawline before gluing his eyes back to the screen of the register. The man hesitated again for a moment before he recovered.

  
“Oh! Just a green tea latte. A big one.” Marco nodded, punching in the order.

  
“Is that all?”

  
“Mhm,” he responded, and slid a five over to Marco, “Keep the change.” He turned to walk away, but Marco reached just over the counter and tapped his shoulder, “I need a name for your order.”

  
“Right, sorry, Jean.” Jean nodded a little awkwardly and wandered from the counter to go find a seat while Marco worked his magic. It only took him a few minutes to make the drink, add a design in the foam, and bring it back over. “Jean!” He called, and Jean made his way back over, taking the latte and thanking Marco and going on his merry way.

  
Marco was left a bit off-kilter from the whole encounter. He could only assume Jean was a regular, and probably expected that Marco would know his order or something, but that was more Eren’s thing, seeing as Marco did his best to avoid customers. The rest of the afternoon, luckily, was pretty slow, and Hanji was back by six when the college students start pouring in to ingest coffee and write last minute papers.

  
After finishing his shift in a daze, Marco helped Hanji with a little bit of clean up before putting his apron on the hook and stumbled his way back home. It was barely 7:30 but Marco had exhausted himself. He spent about ten minutes staring at his paints before he just muttered, “Aw, fuck it.” and flopped into bed.

 

✿✿✿

The next morning, Marco didn’t even bother pretending he would have any inspiration after making the mistake of checking his email to find a new set of emails asking what was up and why he wasn’t painting and it was more than a man could deal with before seven a.m. For some reason, the critics had decided to be more vicious that week, deciding that he had used up whatever time limit artists were allotted before a gallery or plan was announced.

  
In all honesty, Marco just didn’t want to deal with them. He could certainly say he was exploring possibilities or some bullshit like that, but he preferred to stay in his corner of the city and pretend that one day he’d find his inspiration.

  
All things considered, Marco was not in a good mood. People seemed more careless than usual, Marco got pushed over twice and had a cup of coffee spilled on him, just on the walk down the street. Needless to say, he was glowering by the time he walked into the shop, practically bristling.

  
Eren seemed to pick up on the mood easily enough, turning around to start some coffee before even greeting Marco, and calling back to Sasha and Connie to procure some breakfast. “Having a bad morning?” he asked, handing Marco an apron.

  
“Just exhausted, and really done with about everything.” He responded, but Eren’s expression prompted him to pull out his phone. “Look, 13 articles in the past two weeks alone.”

  
The boy took the phone from Marco’s hand and scrolled through a couple of said articles. “They weren’t messing around were they, huh? Assholes.” He huffed, handing the phone back to Marco. He patted Marco’s head with a soft smile. “If you need a break today, just let me know okay? You covered for me all day, yesterday, I can cover for you today.”

  
Marco nodded with a wry smile, “I will definitely take you up on that.” The coffee maker dinged, and he gratefully prepared a cup for himself, and sasha brought him a plate of eggs and toast. “Perk up, freckles!” She placed the tip of her index finger on his nose, “If you don’t pour your love and kindness into that coffee, Hanji will not be pleased.” Marco grinned.

  
“I promise I will cheer up for the coffee.” Sasha gazed into his eyes for a moment, searching before seeming satisfied.

  
“You’re gonna be okay, you know that? You’ll figure it out. You know to just let any of us know if you need a model, right?” As goofy as she could be, Sasha was incredibly perceptive. She ruffled Marco’s hair before returning to the back to prep for the breakfast rush.

  
Luckily, between prepping and breakfast rush, Marco was able to distract himself with work. He didn’t need to worry about galleries or annoying critics when there was a latte to make. Around the lull between breakfast and lunch, though, Marco found himself idle, mind repeatedly slipping back to phrases from the articles: burn-out, has-been, disappointment, wasted potential. Finally he just gave in, grabbing a sandwich from the deli case, and a bottle of water.

  
He tapped Eren on the shoulder and pointed to a booth near the counter. “I’ll be over there if you need me, will you be okay.”

  
“I’ve got it covered, go chill, I’ll tell you if we need help.” Eren gave Marco a light push to the shoulder to encourage him to take a break.

  
Marco nodded and slipped out from behind the counter. Sinking into the chair was nice. He twisted the lid off of the bottle of water and took a few gulps. Some days were just worse than others. Most days he was able to convince himself that he’d be fine, and it would all work out. It was just a dry spell, not some permanent sentence for the rest of his life, art was what he did. It was an intrinsic part of his being, he just had to find the right model or something.

  
Plus, it wasn’t like he hadn’t painted or sketched or anything, he just hadn’t made anything gallery-worthy. Although, now that he thought about it, he hadn’t actually painted in a week. He decided he may as well text Petra, she was always reliable to make him feel a little better when he was in moods like this. “Free tonight? I haven’t drawn a thing in a week.” He sent off with a tap.

  
Within minutes, Marco completely zoned out, it didn’t even matter how much he’d slept the previous night, he just felt so completely drained. What did snap him back to attention though, was Eren’s voice sounding thoroughly annoyed. He turned his gaze to the counter to observe the scene and spotted the strange customer- Joe? Jeremy? Jean? Definitely Jean. And Jean seemed to be practically growling at Eren.

  
“Well fuck you, Jaeger!” The guy practically spat, and Marco really was not in the mood. Before he could even get over to ask Jean to break it off, Jean was starting to reach across the counter to grab Eren, and that crossed the line. Marco really wasn’t sure how he made it over so fast, but he stepped directly in front of Jean and grabbed his shirt by the collar.

  
He had a few inches and a broader frame, and Jean looked a little bit terrified. “I am really not having a good day, and that kind of behaviour is really not acceptable from an adult. Whatever childish game you’re trying to play here is over. I’m going to have to ask you to leave because you cannot treat our staff and my friends that way.” He gritted out through his teeth.

  
Marco let go of the collar with a surprising amount of gentleness considering the severity of his words. He punctuated the statement with a glare the Eren had spent weeks teaching him to perfect. “I-I’m really sorry. That got out of hand, won’t happen again.” Jean held up his hands a little defensively, and Marco pretended not to see Jean glare and mouth something at Eren.

  
“You okay there, Marco?” Eren had genuine worry in his face, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you go angry like that before.” Marco shrugged.

  
“Bad mood paired with whatever his deal was. And honestly I figured if I used the scare factor, I wouldn’t have to mess with a fight or anything dumb like that.” He shook his head slightly. “I just don’t even feel like myself.”

  
Eren smiled sympathetically, “It’s a Tuesday night. Why not just take off? I’ll tell Hanji you weren’t feeling too well, and you go get some rest or do whatever you need to do so you don’t hulk out on us, yeah?” Marco frowned at him, an eyebrow raised.

  
“First of all, I didn’t hulk out. Second, I’m totally fine to work.” Eren put a hand on his hip.

  
“You need to take a break. Hanji won’t care, and we have everything covered. Go. I’m serious.” Marco sighed, giving in to Eren’s demands. When he got home, he simply collapsed on his bed and stared at the ceiling. His thoughts were scattered, although they kept returning to that customer- Jean, was it?

  
He was really curious as to what that Jean guy was fighting with Eren about. Sure, Eren could definitely be hot-headed, but it seemed like the two knew each other? In all honesty, it was none of his business, and Marco tried to just let it go as he dozed off.

 

✿✿✿

  
Petra arrived around 7. Marco was startled awake by the knocking at his door. He rolled out of bed and answered the door with a sleepy smile, “Hello there, miss Petra.” He greeted her.

  
She walked past him into the cozy studio, glancing around. “Been frustrated, huh?” She asked with a sympathetic smile, taking notice of all the abandoned canvases and scattered paintbrushes. Marco rubbed the back of his neck, “Just a bit. I can’t come up with a damn gallery, y’know? Like every once and awhile I can make a painting that’s actually worth something, but only on its own. Read any of the news in the local art sections lately?” He asked.

  
“Why do you think I’m here, huh? You know I teach classes on weeknights and I’d rather go to sleep after, but someone needed a serious pick me up. So what are we doing tonight?” She asked, head tilted to the side sweetly.

  
“I don’t have the patience for paints right now, how about some charcoal drawings, and we go from there?” Petra smiled knowingly and nodded. She went to shrug her coat off but Marco held up a hand.

  
“No, no, I want to do one with the coat. I really like it.” He said softly, and Petra nodded.

  
“I got it last week, thought you might like it.” Marco grinned at her and set up his easel with some nice paper and a tray with his charcoals. He moved around, messing with the lighting until he was happy.

  
“You mind if we go straight into long poses?” He asked and Petra shook her head.  
“So we’re figure-drawing tonight?” Marco nodded.

  
“For now, at least.” Petra nodded in understanding, shifted until she found a pose with her head tilted down and to the side, arms out just slightly.  
“Is this good for ten minutes?” She asked him, and Marco affirmed. He set the timer and started sketching.

  
And they continued like that for almost two hours, Petra shifting poses, maybe shedding a layer of clothing, putting on a hat, donning one of Marco’s button-ups. Marco was covered in charcoal smudges and had a pile of used paper beside him, neatly stacked to be filed away for further contemplation at a later time.

  
“I swear, I never get tired of drawing you. How do you do it?” He asked, and her yellow-green aura had never been his favorite color or anything, though it did compliment her orange tinted hair nicely. Usually he could only repeatedly draw people with beautiful colors, but she was probably is longest model.

  
Petra stepped towards him, “Feeling better?” She asked, genuine hope in her eyes. He nodded.

 

“Are you staying?” He asked. She seemed to contemplate for a moment before speaking carefully.

  
“Tomorrow, I’m asking this guy out. He’s sweet, works with me. He’s actually kind of the reason I broke it off with Levi a month ago.” She admitted kind of sheepishly. “Helped me realize I cared about Levi a lot more than he cared about me, so I broke it off. Then at some point I guess I realized Auruo was into me, and we’re close already. And I guess I like him. I don’t really know.” She told Marco.

  
“So you aren’t staying?” He questioned, amusement lilting his voice. It was always hard to work around Petra’s love life.

  
“I never understood why we never dated.” She sighed, “It couldn’t hurt, I suppose. Especially because I’ll probably be tied down to Auruo for months, if not longer. He isn’t gonna let me go easily.” A sweet smile adorned her face. “I think I like that about him. You should really find someone like that, Marco.”

  
He shrugged, “Me? Crazy guy with the colors? Nah,” Marco laughed softly, when Petra pressed a sweet kiss to his lips.

  
“You deserve it, y’know. You’re gonna find someone who has the prettiest color, and they’re gonna love living in some mess of a house with you, and they’ll go to all your galleries.” She was following him through the little apartment as she spoke. Marco groaned at her, flopping down on the bed and pulling her with him.

  
“If I ever make a gallery again.”

  
Petra rolled her eyes, “Don’t say that! You know it isn’t true. I’m gonna kick your butt if you don’t stop reading your articles. They just make you all depressed, and needy,” she commented. Marco huffed before moving to prop himself above her.

  
“Are you going to tell that new guy about me, or disappear until you two break up?” He asked, laying a couple kisses on her neck.

  
“Mm, I’ll tell him. Especially because you actually need me around. But no more of this, okay? And he might come with. Maybe you can try to draw him too?”

  
“Don’t make me. I don’t know. Maybe? Bring him around sometime, I’ll see then,” He commented.

  
Petra pulled him into a deep kiss before they fumbled into bed. She was gone when Marco woke up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello there! I've actually managed a chapter two here, and not gonna lie, I'm proud of myself  
> I hope you enjoy it!

Fridays were the best day of the week, Marco decided. Hanji always worked on Fridays, so stress went down, Armin always comes to hang out on Fridays, and Marco almost always had something to do on Friday nights. And this glorious morning was, in fact, a Friday.

Marco stumbled through his usual morning routine, pleasantly surprised to find that it would actually be sunny and fairly warm. He packed some sketchbooks and colored pencils in his bag. Not a single person knocked into him on his walk to the coffeeshop, and it wasn’t even very crowded on the sidewalk that day.

The morning at the shop, though, was extremely busy. No rude customers, surprisingly, but there was an almost overwhelming amount of them anyway. He supposed schools had the day off or something judging by the amount of teenagers tapping away at laptops and laughing over cups of coffee and sandwiches. Marco found it thoroughly exhausting, albeit not unpleasant. Someone really needed to tell these kids this was not Starbucks, though. It’s not that Marco couldn’t make complicated drink, it was just a pain trying to keep all of the drinks in order.

After the morning rush, Hanji dismissed Eren and Marco to take a break, insisting on taking over the register and sticking Sasha with drinks. They found a table, carrying some coffees Marco had made.

“Where’s Armin?” Marco asked, and Eren shrugged.

“New girlfriend, I think. Ex of Mikasa’s, which is definitely a little bit weird. I hope she doesn’t start sleeping with her boss to get back at her because that could get really messy.” Marco made a face at Eren.

“Sounds messy. Isn’t her boss that guy that’s slept with basically everyone? Plus, I thought Armin was too much of a saint for that kind of thing.” Armin hooking up with an ex of a best friend? It was all but unheard of.

“He’s doing it in a total Armin way. Asked Mikasa’s permission and everything. Although, I don’t think Mikasa thought Annie would actually go for it, but also there’s no chance they’ll ever get back together. She’ll get over it eventually.” Marco just about spit his drink.

“W-wait Annie? Isn’t that the blonde girl Mikasa used to bring around to parties and my galleries and stuff?” Eren nodded in affirmation. “She isn’t exactly… an emotional being. Are we sure she won’t eat Armin alive?”

“According to Armin, she’s really sweet when it’s just them. I don’t even mess with it to be honest.” And that’s about how Eren dealt with things. He didn’t. Marco could learn a thing or two from that.

He leaned over to pull out his sketchbook and pencils while he was listening, flipping over to a blank page. “I’d definitely stay out of it. Armin’s a smart guy, he can handle himself, I trust him. He’ll tell us if anything happens.” Marco shrugged with a smile, rifling through his pencils and pulling out a variety of reds.

“What about you?” Eren asked and Marco raised an eyebrow as he set to work, Eren sighed. “You know what I mean. Seeing anyone, wistfully staring at customers, anything?” Well that was oddly specific.

“Oh you know me, how much I love to wistfully stare into crowds of people. But not really. I think Petra and I are done now. She’s asking some guy out today and  there’s an actual chance they’ll just stay together.” He began sketching the familiar outlines of Eren’s face in an orangey-red.

“She’s just friends with benefits, though. You told me you didn’t have feelings for her.” Marco groaned in frustration, moving on to outlining neck and torso.

“That’s the thing. I don’t have feelings for her, but she was the closest thing I had to a relationship. I don’t think I even know how to hold a real relationship anymore. God, who’d wanna date me anyway?”

“Back up, Marco. Who would want to? Are you fucking with me right now?” Eren actually sounded… kind of angry? Marco swapped the orangey-red for a darker one.

“I can’t properly interact with pretty much anyone because people give me headaches unless I’m drunk, my apartment is a total mess, I work long hours here because there’s nowhere else for me to be, and I haven’t produced a gallery in ages. I’m not even good at what I’m good at anymore!” Marco heaved a frustrated sigh, sketching in hair on the portrait. “Hell, I kind of look like I’m twelve with all the freckles. And I haven’t even seen a gym in months.” He added as an afterthought.

“Nope. I will not have this, Marco Bodt. First of all, you’re fine once you get to know people or if you just don’t look them in the eye too much, right? So what if being drunk is the easiest way to start? And the only reason my house even resembles being somewhat clean is because Mikasa picks up cleaning habits from work, and even that’s never helped me get laid. Also, don’t let Hanji hear you, they’ll throw a fit and give you shorter hours for the same pay. Plus, who gives a shit whether or not you produce a gallery? You’re still one hell of an artist, you’re just having a block. And you’re still working! Just not making a full collection.” Eren was addressing each point individually, and Marco had to say he was impressed that he’d actually kept up.

Eren placed a hand on Marco’s sketchbook to make him look up and directly into Eren’s eyes. The red that he exuded was practically burning. “Don’t ever try to tell me you aren’t attractive. And don’t ever tell me its because of the freckles. Or pudge. Total bullshit, and I won’t buy it. Understand?” Marco sighed, deciding not to fight him.

“Whatever, not worth dwelling on anyway. What are we going to do for Hanji’s birthday? I know I’ve got paintings of everyone plus their boyfriend.” Eren grinned.

“Party. Next week at mine and Mikasa’s. She’s recruiting her boss to supply some good booze, Armin’s doing music so he isn’t obligated to dance. It won’t be huge or anything but it should be fun. Want to ice the cake?” Eren’s eyes had lit up.

“That sounds doable. Although I’m telling you right now cakes are not like paintings and that will be no masterpiece.” Marco started adding yellow highlights to his sketch.

He was distracted with his sketch, glancing up at Eren as he scratched in textures and shadows when he noticed a hand on Eren’s shoulder, and the red diluted in the spot.

“Hey, Jaeger. You’re gonna have to figure something else out because Levi is being a total dick about the booze. Mikasa’s offering to clean the bathrooms for like a month, but he hasn’t broken yet.” It was the guy from yesterday.

“Seriously? What if Mikasa sleeps with him? She’s on the rebound, it could happen.” Eren suggested. A disgusted face contorted the guy’s features.

“That’s gross. Don’t you love your sister at all? Why would you wish that short, angry man upon her?” Eren rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. It isn’t like he’s bad looking or anything. And he’s not that angry. Nevermind. Can you smuggle some out or something? You have questionable morals, you fix it.” Jean glared at Eren.

“You’re a real asshole, you know that? It can’t be that hard to just ask everyone to bring some liquor or something.” Marco shuffled through the pencils to grab a dark gray-blue to add a signature by Eren’s right shoulder.

“Do you just come in everyday to screw with Eren or something?” He asked, eyebrows furrowed. Marco wasn’t down with people antagonizing his friends, even if Eren could handle himself just fine.

“I- uh, no. I don’t. I come here for green tea lattes and then Eren is an asshole.” the man was blushing slightly.

Eren had a shit-eating grin on his face. Marco shot him a look but the boy just shook his head and Marco decided to drop it.

“So you’re going to be at the party? Do you know Hanji?” He felt sort of bad for embarrassing Jean, to be honest.

“I- well. I’ve met them a few times. Mainly I just help bartend at parties. Unfortunately, Levi is being a stingy motherfucker, which means I won’t really have a job unless Eren can figure something out.” Eren patted Jean’s arm in mock comfort.

“Don’t worry, Ponyboy, we’ll let you come anyway. Maybe you can make some friends!”

Jean glared daggers at Eren but didn’t say anything. With Jean’s eyes diverted, Marco took a chance to look the guy in the face. His color seemed to fluctuate, just pale remnants all but dancing around. Jean wasn’t too bad looking, to be honest, but Marco shook it off. Best not to make hasty decisions on the rebound.

After packing up his sketch stuff, Marco stood up. “Did you get your latte yet?” Jean shook his head, seeming confused. Marco just nodded and dropped his stuff off before sliding behind the counter. He immediately got to work on the drink.

It didn’t take terribly long to make, and he walked back over to hand it to Jean who’d seemed pretty dazed and rooted to the spot. “Take it on the house.” Marco nodded awkwardly in his direction. Flash of green.

“Oh, uh. Thank you? See you at the party.” Marco turned around a second too early to see Jean just cover his face with his hand and walk away from an all but cackling Eren.

“Someone needs to step up their game, huh, horse face?”

 

✿✿✿

 

On Friday, the coffee shop closed up early and everyone dropped by their respective homes for anything they needed for the party. Marco changed into more appropriate dancing-and-maybe-getting-laid attire and carefully wrapped up the paintings for Hanji. He gave his apartment a cursory glance. He grabbed up some of his dirty clothes that scattered the floor and threw them in the general direction of the laundry basket in the corner of his room, kicking some of the mess under his bed. Just in case. He could totally bring someone back, right? He heaved a sigh. He was just going to crash at Eren’s in some random corner, he already knew it.

When he arrived it was just Eren, Mikasa, Sasha, Connie, and a man he assumed was Levi. From the other room, he heard Armin talking to someone, probably Annie.

“Hanji will be here in like half an hour, so we gotta work fast. Presents over there, then you go help Armin and Annie set-up.” Eren was surprisingly demanding, even Mikasa had an eyebrow raised, but Marco just followed instructions. He placed the presents over in the growing pile then went out to the living room.

A blonde girl he could only assume was Annie was sitting on the couch, simply watching Armin wade through technology for music purposes. “You, uh, need some help?” Armin’s dark, earthy brown seeped in with his surroundings, and it had to be one of Marco’s favorite things about him

“Well. No. Maybe. I can totally figure this out.”

The girl popped her head up from the seat of the couch, “That’s exactly what he said an hour ago,” She supplied in a deadpan, greyish tone that dulled her already uninterested expression.

Marco walked over and extended his hand, “Sounds like him. I’m Marco, I don’t think we’ve ever been formally introduced,” he remarked with a smile while Armin huffed from his throne of wires.

“Annie. How do you know Armin?” Light green? Almost like Petra.

“I work with Eren at the coffee shop, how about you?” Armin whined about them talking like he wasn’t even there.

“Well I was dating Mikasa. And now I’m dating Armin.” Marco nodded slowly. Annie was straightforward if nothing else. He was starting to get a headache from the morphing colors though. She was about half green and half bright red, but Annie never dropped her gaze, and Marco had to wonder if she knew exactly what she was doing.

Marco walked over to Armin’s tangle of wires and his blue eyes screamed something along the lines of ‘help me.’ “Alright. So how many of these do we really need?” And the boys set to work, untangling, plugging things in, setting up Armin’s iPod in the system, and managed to get everything together in 20 minutes or so.

“Teamwork, eh?” Marco high fived a relieved Armin before excusing himself back to the kitchen with Eren and company, avoiding eye contact with Annie.

“Can you make this cake beautiful in ten minutes?” Eren’s eyes bore into him and his red was even more intense than usual.

“I can certainly try, what do I have to work with?” Connie held up a finger to pause Marco for a second before he and Sasha held up a tray of several colors of frosting and varied tools. “Okay. I make no promises, but here we go.” He took the tray and set it next to the cake and set quietly to work.

The first layer was a nice yellow, almost the exact shade of Hanji themself. Then, he piped on some white borders and some nice green vines on opposite corners, and Marco smiled. It was almost the same shade of green as their current boyfriend, although he wouldn’t be at the actual party. Marco had managed to convince Erwin to sit for a painting and it had actually turned out pretty well.

He used a nice red, slightly brighter than Eren’s, for the lettering, then made some flowers out of Sasha orange, Connie blue, and accented them with the greyish-blue of himself (he had to mix the frostings a little for it, though).

“Those are some seriously weird colors,” Levi commented, though he seemed aloof about it. “How’d you even come up with those?” Before Marco could launch into any kind of explanation, though, the front door opened and Hanji called out a greeting. Everyone grinned, heading towards the living room while Eren and Marco put some candles into the cake and lit them to bring it out.

Hanji was getting a group hug from Sasha and Connie. Annie, Armin and Levi were hanging towards the edges of the room, not knowing them as well. “Happy birthday!” Marco greeted Hanji in a sing song voice.

“Sasha and Connie made the cake so it should be awesome.” Eren commented from just behind him, and Hanji grinned.

“Marco decorated it, didn’t he?” They asked, observing the colors with a huge grin. “It looks awesome, thank you guys so much.” Everyone broke into song, some at different paces, and Hanji was a giggling mess by the end. “Alright, let’s go do some presents. I want to make sure you people are putting your paychecks to good use.”

Everyone trickled in and out of the kitchen to fetch the wrapped goods. Connie and Sasha had gone in together to get Hanji some books of unsolved murders that Hanji all but drooled over, Eren gave them some nice teas, Levi offered up a bottle of Bailey’s and some fancy cognac. Armin and Annie gave Hanji a couple new aprons for the shop.

Hanji then turned to Marco and made grabby hands, “Gimme.” He smiled and handed over the wrapped paintings. Hanji tore into them excitedly, unveiling the portraits of Sasha and Connie first. “They’re beautiful Marco!” They exclaimed happily, ripping the paper off of the portraits of Eren and Marco. “Who’s the last one?” Hanji seemed confused but decided to find out themself. “You didn’t” Marco nodded with a smile. “How did you get him to agree! He’ll barely take pictures with me!” Hanji was admiring the painting of Erwin.

Their favorites were always Marco’s portraits of people he was still getting to know, when there was no solid color for them. Hanji jumped up and gathered Marco into a big hug, “You are so talented, kiddo. I swear.”

A blush colored Marco’s cheeks. “I’m just glad you like it, really,” He mumbled in response.

“Alright, let’s transport this stuff somewhere safe before people start showing up.” Eren commented and Hanji turned around, clutching the paintings.

“Can we hang them up? I’ll take them with but they’re too nice to get shoved in the car all night.” Hanji pouted and Eren rolled his eyes, but nodded, grumbling something about birthday privileges.

“Here, I’ll help,” Mikasa offered, picking up the portraits of Eren and Marco and leading Hanji into another room to prop up the paintings.

The next hour was a blur of helping Eren clean while Hanji lounged in the kitchen, and Marco had never seen the place cleaner. Admittedly, he was a little curious about Eren’s motives, the place would get plenty messy later anyway.

When people did start showing up, most of the guests filtered into the living room where Armin had started playing music. Honestly, it was just on a playlist, but Armin sat dutifully at a little table with the stereos, Annie having pulled up a chair next to him.

Meanwhile, Hanji opened the cognac and gave some to Marco with a smile. It really, really was good cognac, Levi hadn’t been messing around. Marco leaned against the counter next to Eren. Sasha and Connie had gone to fetch snacks, and Hanji and Levi were across the room with Mikasa over to the side.

By now, Eren had stopped greeting guests and just hoped no strangers let themselves in, leaving it up to Mikasa to peek through the doorway. A smile crossed her face, “Perfect timing. We’re about to break out the big kid alcohol, wanna help?” She asked as Jean entered the kitchen.

His eyes zeroed in on Eren and Marco, confusion flickering for a second. “Sure- holy shit, who brought the Claude Thorin?” His jaw dropped at the bottle. Levi smirked.

“Qui pensez-vous?” He asked and Jean glared.

“But you wouldn’t let me bring anything from the bar.” Levi simply shrugged in response. “Alright, who am I making drinks for?” He asked, peeking around.

“I’ll take some mojito tea.” Mikasa commented, moving to toss Jean a couple limes.

“Shouldn’t you be making your own drinks? You work in a bar too.”

“Yeah, but I’m a cocktail waitress. And you make really good mojito tea, and I got you ingredients to make it,” She countered and Jean just sighed in resignation, turning around to start heating some water.

“I wouldn’t mind something with this cognac. The actual drink is up to you, Mr. Bartender.” Hanji requested happily.

“And you should make something nice and strong for Freckles, here.” Eren said, clapping Marco on the shoulder happily.

“You do know that’s a kind of broad request, right, Jaeger?”

“Hanji made a broad request, and you aren’t being mean to them!” He protested.

“Well it’s Hanji’s birthday, and Hanji also isn’t a little bitch.” Jean countered, the turned to look at Marco, and Marco automatically averted his eyes. “Well then, Marco, what kind of drinks do you like?”

“Honestly, anything that will get me drunk in record time, Eren wasn’t joking.” He replied sheepishly. His goal at parties was almost always get drunk in the shortest amount of time then go enjoy it like a normal person.

Jean raised a skeptical eyebrow, but set to work anyway, and Marco would be lying if he said he wasn’t impressed with the speed at which Jean produced the drinks. It was only to be expected considering he was a bartender, but still. All Marco knew about his drink is that Jean had been surrounded by a lot of types of alcohol and a can of redbull. Whatever it was, it was really, really good. And really, really strong. He could already feel a slight haze, and that was always nice.

After giving people drinks, Jean joined in the conversation too, Hanji boasting on Marco’s paintings and Marco blushing, hiding his face in the crook between Eren’s shoulder and neck. Eren simply patted Marco’s hair. He did eventually resurface, but remained leaned against Eren’s side.

When he finished his drink, he leaned across Eren to grab a bottle of water. Sometimes Marco really wished he was enough of a lightweight to get sufficiently drunk off of a single drink, but that was simply not the case. Still, he had work in the morning, so he needed to down this water and only make eye contact with Hanji, Eren, and Mikasa.

After Marco took a drink from the bottle, Eren took it out of his hands to drink some and Marco stuck out his tongue. “The water is right next to you, y’know, you could just get your own.” Eren simply shrugged, smirking and looking right into Marco’s eyes and the red was seriously intense. All of the colors got really intense before they dulled out. He reached behind Marco to set the water on the counter on Marco’s other side.

“So do you guys just know each other from work?” Jean blurted out, diverting Marco’s attention. He raised an eyebrow, about to answer when Eren cut him off.

“Well, we met at work, but Marco is kind of awesome and we hit it off,” He supplied. It sure sounded like they were a couple when he put it that war, but Marco just rolled his eyes.

“More like Eren got addicted to my coffee and let me draw him.”

Jean nodded thoughtfully, and the electric blue he gave off almost made Marco cringe, so he averted his gaze back over to Hanji’s calming yellow.

Finishing off his water, Marco reached around Eren to grab a beer out of the cooler sitting on the counter, using the hem of his shirt to twist the cap off. He took a long swig, and let the neck of the bottle hang loosely between his fingers.

Hanji and Levi chatted about their respective businesses. Levi had an air of annoyance, but also some obvious pride in his bar (apparently, the cleanest bar in town). Sasha and Connie edged out of the room with their snacks, and Marco could say with almost complete certainty that they were about to go get high. And it may or may not involve brownies.

He finished off the beer and was all but hanging off of Eren’s arm, hiding laughs into his shoulder. Usually Eren sort of rolled his eyes at Marco’s drunken antics, but Eren seemed totally oblivious and Jean seemed increasingly irritated, bristling and snapping at Eren a few times.

Okay, seriously, that Levi guy was really starting to freak him out. He kept staring at Marco with a death glare but that could also just be his face. He wasn’t entirely sure. Marco excused himself to the living room, gathering himself off of Eren and grabbing his bag with the sketch stuff. As he walked into the room, the colors were all nicely faded, dulling down but not entirely disappearing.

Marco plopped down on the couch, curling his legs under him and propping his sketchbook on his knees. He scanned the small crowd until he decided to just sketch everyone. At once. It would be interpretive or something.

The colors melded together on the page as he blended them, god damn he did love pastels. His nice jeans were getting stained each time he wiped his hand on them, though. It was bound to happen eventually, in all honest. All of his clothing items ended up with art stains of one medium, or another. It was all part of the job, really.

“You draw a lot, don’t you?” Jean sat down across from Marco on the couch, two bottles of water in his hand. “Here, you didn’t grab one when you left.” He handed one to a very confused Marco.

“Why do you antagonize Eren so much?” He asked, against his better judgment.

“Because he’s a little shit that needs to be put in his place,” Jean said, shrugging.

Marco continued his drawing, blending the colors carefully. “Well I don’t just draw. I’m a multimedia artist.” He mumbled.

Jean opened his mouth to say something, when Mikasa came over, peering at Marco’s sketchbook. “In your will you better leave me all of your drunken artwork.” She commented before turning eyes and a smile on Jean. “Having fun?” She asked, taking a seat between them.

“I, uh, yeah. I was just talking to um, Marco, here, about his art.” He seemed flustered as Mikasa ran a distracted finger up his leg.

“Mm, were you?” She asked, gazing at him through her lashes. “I was lonely, you left me all alone with Eren and Levi. Seriously weird unresolved sexual tension,” Mikasa was all but pouting. Marco felt like he was intruding on some weird mating ritual. Well, may as well draw Mikasa while he was at it. He didn’t get to draw her very often, and she had a beautiful bronzey tone.

“I’m gonna go make myself a drink, or something,” Jean huffed, getting up and walking away. Mikasa’s posture and expression changed almost immediately.

“Wow. That was way too easy. He must really like you,” She commented. Marco raised a questioning eyebrow but she didn’t dignify it with an answer. He drew Mikasa for a while longer as she enjoyed lounging where Jean had been sitting.

But he could only draw one person for so long before he decided to change spots and find some new subjects. From his new vantage point, Marco spotted Jean curled up in an orange armchair, seeming put off. It was kind of adorable to be honest. He’d faded into a nice bright blue.

Marco started with Jean’s hair, and by the time he was going to shade in the undercut Jean had morphed into a hot pink. Well, he might as well. The hair looked kind of cool like that, actually. He decided he may as well just finish it out with his regular flesh tones.

And then he sketched Jean again, a different angle. Then a different pose. Then a different facial expression and a different color. Marco didn’t know how long he sat there sketching Jean, but he had at least two pages filled when Eren tapped his shoulder.

“So who are ya drawing there, Marco?” He asked with a cheeky grin.

Marco sputtered for a moment, blushing. “He’s just fun to draw. And moving a conveniently small amount,” He finally replied defensively.

“Whatever you say, Freckles. Whatever you say. Oh my God! Is that one shirtless?”

Appalled, Marco huffed at Eren, snapping the sketchbook closed and shoving it at him.

“You suck. I’m gonna go dance.” The blush hadn’t left his cheek when he went and pushed through the crowd to find Hanji, with a very stoned Sasha and an even more stoned Connie. But that didn’t stop the three of them from dancing like idiots the rest of the night, Eren eventually joining in.

It was some time past midnight when Marco helped Hanji load the paintings into their car and made his way back inside. The party was dispersing, but Marco was really not feeling that whole leaving or driving thing. He figured Eren would tell him to go home, but not if he couldn’t find him, or if Marco was already asleep.

✿✿✿

And that is how a somewhat hungover Marco Bodt woke up with a very sore back in Eren Jaeger’s bathtub to a face soaked in ice cold water.

“Good morning, sunshine!” Eren grinned above him with a now empty cup. “I thought I might find you in here. Seriously one day you need to actually go home after a party here. Well, gives us an extra hand in the morning, I guess. Get up and moving so we can clean and get to work because I am in desperate need of some coffee.”

“Apparently not, you seem very awake,” Marco grumbled, rubbing at his eyes and running a hand through his hair. “You need to get a bigger bathtub. With pillows.”

“You need to learn to sleep in a bed or on a couch.” Eren countered with a sing-song voice.

Marco finally mustered the strength to stand with a groan. He stretched and heaved a yawn. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I was hiding from Levi, he was sitting on the couch I was going to commandeer. He scares me. His bitch face is so intense.”

“Why is everyone so scared of him? Seriously it makes no sense,” Eren said, shaking his head as Marco followed him downstairs to the smell or breakfast.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many many thanks to my beta, constipatedwriter! Without her, this chapter probably would've been dumped half way through and never seen the light <3  
> In other exciting news, I will be writing this from Jean's perspective as well, and the plan is in the works :D (Jean's perspective is gonna be so fuckin cute, man)  
> Feel free to hit me up at jumpforjo on tumblr!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ao3 is battling me on publishing this but hopefully it goes through this time! Thank you guys so much for being patient, and I present you with chapter 3!

 

Bless Mikasa and her pure heart. She was standing over the stove, cooking a simple breakfast that didn’t make Marco’s stomach flip in on itself.

Eren tore his attention away, “Okay, you take the living room, I take the dining room?”

“Deal.”

Marco and Eren dispersed to clean up the downstairs, collecting trash and rearranging the furniture that had been moved by the masses. Marco’s head was pounding despite actually drinking water the night before. He rubbed fingers against his scalp and through his hair, letting his eyes fall shut. God, Marco didn’t even want to think about the glaring sunlight.

Once Marco and Eren had sufficiently tidied their respective areas, they went into the kitchen and Mikasa slid plates in front of them with eggs and toast.

Marco thanked her, and he and Eren snarfed down the food, almost forgetting to chew. “Hanji better be lenient, we threw them a pretty great party,” Eren commented, glancing at the clock above the oven. They should’ve been at work fifteen minutes ago.

“Since when is Hanji anything but lenient?” Marco replied easily. Eren made some noise of agreement through the food in his mouth. After finishing off the food, they dropped off their plates in the sink. Eren pecked Mikasa on the cheek, and they made their way out to Eren’s car.

It was a little beat up, and a nice shade of red (Marco would be lying if he said he didn’t push for the red one- it was almost the same shade as Eren). He supposed he’d have to come by later and pick up his own car. Or stay another night. He could figure that out later.

The ride to the coffee shop was quiet, the only sounds coming from whatever radio station Eren had been previously tuned in to. Marco ran his fingers through his hair again, trying to find his happy place and pretend he wasn’t going to have to actually do any work.

Unfortunately, it was a Saturday. Naturally, the shop was already buzzing with customers when they walked in.

“Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in,” Hanji greeted them happily. They were at the register and already looking for an out as Eren walked up with an apologetic smile. Some excuse about paperwork and business things and Hanji was gone.

Sasha, on the other hand, was much more grateful. “Oh, thank God you’re here, I don’t know about all these fancy drinks,” She gushed, finishing off whatever coffee concoction she was making and handing him the list of what was left. “They’re brutal this morning! It never ends!” The girl threw her hands up in exasperation and went to help Connie in the kitchen.

Somehow, Marco managed to procure some coffee for him and Eren between all of the orders. Around eleven, things started to finally slow down. Between customers, Eren came over to slump his head on Marco. “I didn’t drink any water last night.” He groaned into the freckled boy’s shoulder.

“That wasn’t a very good idea was it?” Marco teased, making the poor guy more coffee. “Will this help?” Eren nodded without lifting his head, and took the mug.

“I may be a clingy drunk, but you sure are clingy when you’re hungover.” Marco hummed, and Eren pulled himself away from Marco, sticking out his tongue before going back over to the counter.

“Jean requires his latte,” Eren called back and Marco set to work. As soon as he finished the drink, he turned to face Eren, walking backwards from behind the counter.

“I’m taking my break!” He called to Sasha, and heard a response of something along the lines of unfaithful asshole from Eren, who was promptly scolded by Hanji for using such language right in front of customers. Eren simply groaned in response.

Marco managed to locate Jean at a table not far from the counter, sliding the latte in front of the man who was scowling at his phone. Jean jolted and dropped his phone, taken by surprise. “So, personal service, eh?” Well, he certainly recovered quickly.

“Don’t count on it, I’m just taking a break.” Marco shrugged, gaze turned out to the window. In his peripheral, Jean motioned at the seat across from him.

“You’re free to join me, this shop is seriously busy right now.” Marco hesitated for a moment before deciding to just take a seat. It would be more awkward to decline and go take a table by himself. “Hangover?” He asked, and Marco nodded.

“I thought I had enough water, but I was oh so wrong.” He mumbled.

“That drink I made you was pretty strong last night, I probably should have warned you.” Jean remarked sheepishly. Marco waved it off, gaze alternating between being fixed on the table and a point just behind Jean’s shoulder.

“I asked for strong and you delivered. It was actually pretty good.” No it wasn’t, but it sure did get the job done. Jean made a face at him.

“Seriously? Irish Trashcans are disgusting, they just happened to be the strongest drink I could make with what we had there.” Marco shrugged. How was he supposed to respond? ‘No worries Jean, I’ll just drink whatever gets me drunk off my ass in record time!’ “Do you guys have orange juice here?” He asked suddenly.

“Is that a serious question?” Marco asked, quirking an eyebrow, “Of course we do.” It isn’t like there were in a coffee shop that serves a breakfast crowd or anything.

“It’s great for hangovers. Vitamin C and hydration all at once.” Jean explained, and a smile tugged at the edges of Marco’s mouth.

“Then I will probably get some of that for Eren and I when I go back.” Marco replied thoughtfully, chewing mindlessly on the inside of his lip.

Jean seemed to hesitate a moment, and then took a long drink of his latte. Marco felt sort of bad, he should probably be making some sort of conversation rather than leaving it all up to Jean, but he didn’t really have anything interesting or worthwhile to say. Hell, he didn’t even know why Jean invited him to sit in the first place.

“Are you and Eren a thing?” He asked quietly, eyes boring into his drink and eyebrows furrowed together.

“What?” Marco was actually taken completely off guard. “No, not at all, does it seem that way?” He asked, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Jean just shrugged in response.

“I don’t know. Seemed kind of like it at the party, but it doesn’t matter.” The man’s cheeks had gone bright red, and that was really not looking too good with the bright green, so Marco turned his gaze away again, catching a glimpse at Jean fluttering his hand dismissively. Should he go back to work? “Uh- your paintings were really good. For Hanji.” Jean muttered, closing his hands back in around his mug.

Marco’s eyes lit up. “Thank you! I was excited I got their boyfriend to actually pose, he’s not very personable. Not unpleasant or anything, just not overly excited about the whole thing.” Jean seemed to ease up.

“That one was pretty psychedelic. But you’re seriously talented, how long have you been painting?”

“Well I didn’t pick up painting until high school actually. Before that I just did a lot of drawing, then I took a painting class in highschool and decided to go all the way with it.” He answered easily. “I still love to draw! I sketch a lot, but painting is probably my favorite.” It was nice to talk about art not in relation to galleries or reviews or any of that other mess.

“Wait, did you go to art school or something?” Jean’s eyes were wide.

“Painting major, illustration minor,” He told Jean happily.

“That’s kind of awesome. Why do you work here, then?” Well, all good things come to an end. Marco rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, eyes glued to his knees.

“Yeah, I, uh, used to do galleries. Still want to, actually. I guess I’ve just run dry? I’ve made some paintings here and there, tried other mediums, but nothing has really come together into a collection. Plus my model just left me, and whatever. Hanji lets me work here and stay in their apartments. And its not like I never do anything, it is just very frustrating.” He shook his head and put on a sunny smile. “But I’m sure it’ll all work out, so I’m not too worried about it. Just a little frustrated.”

“Oh, that really sucks. I’m sorry.” Jean muttered, seeming a bit awkward about it all.

Marco tried really hard not to think about his sketchbook pages filled with Jean. “Uh, would you maybe come model?” Dammit, Bodt, get in control of that mouth of yours. “I’ll make your lattes on the house if you do.” He offered, cheeks tinged the same pink no emanating from Jean. His eyes followed the pattern of the grain of the table instead, blocking it out.

“Well, I mean. If you want me to. I kind of work nights though with the whole bartending thing. Uh, you said you like sketching, right? You could come hang out at the bar. It’s pretty slow on weeknights and I don’t know if that’s actually how that works but you’re free to come in whenever.” Jean’s whole face had turned a nice shade of red, had Marco been out of line?

“I, um, that would definitely work. If you don’t mind!” He backtracked slightly, trying not to be overly forward. He hadn’t had to actually ask someone to repeatedly model for him since Petra, and Petra had asked to be his model. Needless to say, Marco would not suffer from a bit of tact.

“Hey loverboy, this coffee doesn’t make itself!” Hanji called over with a devilish grin, pointing at the clock. He’d been with Jean for probably ten minutes now. Marco laughed, shaking his head.

“That would be my call to return. When should I show up?” He asked.

“Well, Tuesdays are particularly slow if you want to come over after work.” Jean supplied helpfully, and Marco nodded, waving as he turned around to return to the whirlwind going on behind the counter.

The rest of the day happened in a sort of a blur. And Marco drank at least half a gallon of orange juice. Eren kept throwing glances his way, but Marco decided not to question him.

Not until the a few days later, that is.

“So, what’s the deal with that Jean guy?” He finally asked, back to Eren as he pumped a drink full of several syrups. Seriously, who ordered a drink like this. It sounded disgusting.

“What do you mean?” Eren raised an eyebrow as Marco turned back towards him, mixing the liquid in the mug.

“I don’t know. I mean, you seem like you know him and he seems like kind of an asshole. But also he was being pretty nice to me?” Marco tried to explain, frustrated. His first impressions of Jean hadn’t been too good, but the guy had been pretty nice on Saturday

“Well, I mean he’s an ass to me. Always has been. We don’t really get along, like, at all. Everything was good in preschool, practically friends, then in ninth grade Mikasa moved in and he got all weirdly jealous. Since then I guess we became weird friends that hate each other. I don’t know, it’s very, very complicated.” Eren explained. “And there is no way you’re just asking because he’s being nice to you. Spill it, Marco.”

“Well I mean he asked me to sit with him Saturday?” Marco answered carefully.

“He really isn’t, uh, that bad of a guy. Really. Got a great nose, too. His nose is fine as a nose can be.” Eren was obviously skirting some issue here.

“You do know you said he had questionable morals, right? And that he’s almost always antagonizing you.” He wouldn’t be fooled so easily. Or distracted with speak about noses.

“Well, I mean. When he isn’t being all angry and immature. He’s pretty cool.” Eren tried again, almost looking to be in pain complimenting the other man.

“Who are we talking about?” Marco peered over at the counter to spot Armin, sky blue and smiling at him with a wave.

“Jean.” Eren supplied, gladly taking the focus away from him. Armin seemed to stare right into Eren, and Eren shook his head slightly. Best friend telepathy. Marco used to have it with Petra.

“Can you tell me what his deal is?” Marco asked, already setting to work on a peppermint drink for the blonde.

“Whatever Eren says, he really is a good guy,” Armin answered easily. “Dynamite in the sack, too.” Poor Eren choked on a mouthful of hot coffee, bursting into a fit of coughs and Marco almost dropped the coffee mug.

“Wait how do you..?” Marco asked, slightly horrified because hearing about Armin’s sex life had never been something he thought would happen.

“He’s my ex. Are you okay, Eren?” Armin asked, genuine worry crossing his features. Eren had recovered from the coughing, but his eyes were wide and Marco wasn’t entirely sure he was breathing. “I mean, we never got super far. We only dated for like two months But I think I can say that with confidence,” Armin adds thoughtfully. By now Marco is red in the face too. “Why are we talking about Jean, anyway?” He asked, head tilting slightly.

“Well, Marco asked about him and says its just because Jean asked him to sit with him the other day, but I think something else is up. Freckles here has a strange need to know about king asshole.” Eren informed the blonde, turning a searching eye on Marco. Well someone’s opinion certainly flipped quickly in the presence of Armin.

“King asshole? At least he didn’t turn my binder bright pink.” Armin countered easily.

“Well you shouldn’t have trusted me with laundry! How was I supposed to know you separate all the clothes, that’s so dumb! Blame Mikasa’s stupid scarf!” Eren defended angrily, face beginning to blend in with his own personal shade of red.

“I just don’t get him! He kind of showed up out of nowhere!” Marco held his hands up in a defensive posture as both boys cringed, attention back from each other.

“You do know he comes here every day, right?” Eren asked carefully, and Marco shook his head.

“This might surprise you, but I don’t go out of my way to interact with all of the customers because I value my mental health.” More best friend eye telepathy.  

“Yeah, yeah I know.” Eren huffed, walking over to the counter to help a customer as Armin sidled out of the way.

As soon as the brunette was out of sight, Armin  walked back towards Marco’s end and had his eyes boring straight into the boy. “So what’s actually up?” Marco tried to shrug but Armin didn’t budge, eyes piercing and his blue even more vivid than usual.

“Uh, I kind of maybe asked him to model for me?” Marco’s face turned bright red, fingers running nervously through his hair and he dove his eyes to the counter. Armin smiled gently.

“Jean may look intimidating, but he’s a huge dork. He’ll probably spend the whole night trying to show off and strike poses.” Marco didn’t feel any better. He sighed and shook his head.

Eren glanced up at the clock on the back wall and grinned. “Hey, I’m gonna go sit with Armin for a bit. Consider it karma for ditching me Saturday. I’ll be back soon.” Eren made a little salute at Marco before grabbing Armin’s drink and ducking out from the counter and handing Armin the mug and following him to a table.

Marco groaned, wanting to do anything but take over the counter right now, his head already hurt. Luckily, the customers were a slow trickle, very few ordering drinks, most requesting sandwiches, maybe a cup for iced tea. A familiar voice had Marco glancing up, though.

“Did Eren leave you here to fend for yourself?” He greets Marco, sunshine yellow and Marco diverts his glance.

“You do know Eren is one of my best friends, right? I don’t appreciate you bashing him all the time.” Marco responds, not bothering with charging the latte to stay true to his deal.

“Come on. I’m sure he trashes me all the time,” Marco almost laughed, not even ten minutes ago Eren was the one trying to convince Marco that Jean was a good guy.

“You’d be surprised. And even if that was true, I barely know you, and Eren has been around for a few years for me.” He walks back to start Jean’s latte, and Jean follows him to the side of the counter, leaning against it easily.

“I just don’t get why,” He says, and Marco gives him a look to continue. Light purple. “Well, Eren is pretty loud, aggressive, annoying, and immature. Yet he has this circle of adoring friends that are almost definitely too good for him,” the cockyness is Jean’s voice grates on Marco’s nerves.

“What’s your problem with him?” Marco asks, looking Jean directly in the eye and is surprised to find the same shade of red as Eren meeting him. He looks away. “And why do you care so much that I like him?” He asks, pouring the steamed milk into the mug with precision as Jean splutters from across the counter.

“It’s a teasing thing, really! Eren and I like to mess with each other! In a totally bro fashion. You didn’t think I actually didn’t like him, right?” Jean’s voice is just a bit frantic as he backtracks and Marco smiles. Frazzled Jean was kind of very, very adorable. “What time do you think you’ll be up at the bar?” He asked, changing the subject, looking out of the window.

Marco slides the drink across the counter to Jean, “I’m off at seven so probably eight o’clock or so?” He responds and Jean nods.

“Thanks, uh. For the drink. You really don’t have to give them to me free,” Marco waved Jean’s sentiment with his hand.

“You can say that when you’re sitting still for hours on end for a painting.” Jean’s expressions turns to horror.

“Wait, hours?” He asks, eyes wide. Marco smiles warmly at him, and the smile grows just a bit at Jean’s now-gold tinge.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, I’m wouldn’t force you to model for an oil, that’d be rude.” Jean shook his head.

“No, no that’s not what I.” He squeezed his eyes shut for a second. “I was just surprised. If you need someone to model for that I’ll do it.” Jean affirms with a nod. “If you want me to.” He adds as an after thought.

Marco was pleasantly surprised. “That’s really nice of you, thank you. Now go ingest some caffeine, I’ll see you later.” A light blush dusts Jean’s cheeks as he mumbles a thank you and goes off to find a table.

“Do you need a break?” Eren asked a minute or so later, and Marco jumped, almost dropping his mug.

“Jesus, when did you get there?” Marco asked, alarm obvious in his voice.

“Just now.” Eren grinned, bumping Marco out of the way with his hip to take his place at the register. “So, do you need a break?” Eren asked without looking over, and Marco tilted his head, somewhat confused.

“No, I took one earlier?” He responded slowly. The other boy simply sighed, a puff of translucent red, and turned away, muttering ‘hopeless idiot’ to himself.

 

 

 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> many many thanks to my ever so wonderful beta, Mariam! she is the light of my life and the only reason this chapter got finished  
> feel free to find me on tumblr at jumpforjo!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's been so long!  
> School has been kicking my ass hardcore (and will continue to do so until finals are over, so the next update will probably also take forever, I'm sorry)  
> BUT ALAS here we are! enjoy!

Marco was confused. He couldn’t quite figure out what was causing the uncomfortable knot in his stomach. There was also the fact that he’d actually managed to dry and comb his dark hair for the first time in months without a second thought.

After some contemplation, he put the feeling down to simple nervousness over having to adapt to a new model.

Petra had been his primary model for years. She’d been his one constant, his rock. This would be a huge change. There would have to be a lot of getting to know each other and figuring out the others boundaries. Plus, Marco needed Jean to sit for at least a few paintings before his color settled, the chaos of those paintings usually pleased critics, and Marco could really use a couple of positive articles, for his ego if nothing else.

As he was getting ready, Marco came to the full realization of how badly he needed to do laundry. He used to do it before Petra came over or she’d spend all of their time flitting around the room tidying up, but that certainly wasn’t going to work out now, was it? The clothes strewn across his floor were all wrinkled and worn at least twice, and all of the clothing in his dresser was unflattering to a degree that made him not want to wear them ever again. And definitely not on his first date with a new model.

Hold up, did he just think of it as a date?

Marco collapsed on his bed with a huff. Maybe he wasn’t ready for this. Oh God, he wasn’t even in a relationship with Petra, and now here he was: laying helplessly on his bed in nothing but his boxers, freaking out about what he should wear. He really thought he was past this high school nonsense. Whoever said adults had life figured out was a fucking liar.

And what if Jean wanted a relationship? What if Jean was romantically interested in Marco, or something like that? Hell, all signs were pointing that way. The guy seemed to turn into a blushing mess with Marco, and Armin and Eren were definitely acting suspiciously around him. Marco wasn’t sure he could handle an actual relationship at this point, and he really didn’t want to fuck up trying to get Jean to be Petra. But god damn, if he wasn’t lonely. Sure, he had plenty of friends, and they were all amazing, but he had a tendency to feel a little bit like he was on the outside looking in.

Maybe he should date Eren or something.

Marco took a quick glance at his phone. He only had about ten minutes to get his shit together if he wanted to get there by eight like he promised Jean.

His hands came up to cover his face, and Marco let out a loud, frustrated groan. He took a few deep breaths before finding a comfortable pair of jeans that were sufficiently paint stained. If anything, he could at least look artsy or something. You can wear absolutely anything if you can pull it off as artsy.

Unfortunately, he was at a total loss for what shirt to wear. All of his button ups were either gross or smelled like Petra. The last thing he needed was to smell Petra all over himself while trying to find a new model. She’d texted him a few times with updates about the new guy- pictures included. Marco didn’t find it in himself to have any desire to draw this guy but Petra seemed to really like him.

Finally, he peered across the room and spotted the burgundy sleeve of one of his favorite sweaters. It had ended up squished in the overly packed space and slipped his notice. “Oh thank god,” he breathed out, pulling himself off the bed to retrieve it.

Sweater and jeans. Casual, right? Bar casual, because he was just going to go sketch, right?

Marco debated with himself, should he bring something for Jean? Would that be weird? He was almost definitely over thinking this whole business. Finally he settled on just grabbing his art supplies and getting the hell out of his little apartment before his head exploded.

The sidewalk was only semi busy, with the night crowd milling in and out of shops with bags of whatever trinkets they’d purchased. Marco managed to make it to his car without incident, and he tossed his bag over into the passenger’s seat before heading out. The ride was maybe fifteen minutes, and then Marco sat in the car outside of the bar for another ten.

If he showed up at exactly eight, Jean would think he was a punctual freak or something. Or he’d seem too excited. He definitely needed to be fashionably late, why did he even worry about getting there on time?

Finally, he clambered out of the car with a few reassuring deep breaths and made his way into the bar. Levi was near the door. He quirked an eyebrow but simply nodded at Marco and resumed wiping down the table he was at.

Only a few other people populated the bar, mostly at their own tables, chatting quietly over drinks. One person sat at the far end of the bar, staring into their drink as if it had the answers to the universe. Marco felt like he should let them know that it really doesn’t, but he

also didn’t want to bother them.

It was easy enough to spot Jean at the bar, though. Not to mention that Jean was now waving rather enthusiastically at Marco. _What the fuck did Marco think he was even doing here._

Jean greeted him with an easy smile, “I was worried you got lost or something!”

“Oh no, just, uh...Running late. Yeah,” Marco kept his eyes glued to the bar, and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Maybe being fashionably late wasn’t a good idea after all.

“Well, what can I get you? I promise whatever it is will be better than that Irish Trashcan.” Jean seemed to be in his element, moving with more eloquence than Marco had seen him with before. Definitely more peppy, too.

“I’ll stick to non-alcoholic tonight. Maybe a coke or something.” Jean’s shoulders seemed to drop with a little bit of disappointment. Show off?

Nevertheless, Jean filled his request, sliding a glass of soda in front of Marco.

“Don’t let Levi know I’m giving these to you for free, he’ll flip a bitch,” Jean informed him quietly with a wink.

Olive green, like the ones in the martini glasses of the women at the table across the room.

Marco tipped his glass slightly in understanding and turned to pull out his sketchbook and colored pencils. He carefully laid them out in front of himself across the bar, and Jean’s eyes widened a bit.

“Got a few pencils, there?” The voice was fond, and he turned around to find himself face to face with Mikasa. “Levi has me on cleaning duty and he’ll skin me alive if I hang around here too long. But, Jean,” She turned to address the bartender, “Annie said she isn’t coming in tonight so it looks like you’re gonna have a long shift. She did say she’ll take next tuesday, though, so you can have that night off.”

“I am not emotionally prepared for two in the morning drunks, Mikasa!” Jean whined, and Mikasa simply rolled her eyes.

“Boo hoo. And I still need a ride home. Because, you know, I’ll be working too.” She stuck her tongue out and walked off, leaving Jean grumbling something about ungratefulness.

“So what happened with the old model?” Jean asked, unnecessarily wiping the bar surface down again. Marco supposed he was trying to pull off some bartender talk or something, but he didn’t seem nervous.

“She got a boyfriend, and I think this one is gonna stick.” Marco answered, leaving it at that. He didn’t want to lie, but he also wasn’t too keen on talking about it.

“There has to be more of a story there, sure you don’t want a drink?” Well then, someone must have thought he being smooth. Marco rolled his eyes.

“There is, but I’d really rather not talk about it. And giving me a drink isn’t going to make me tell you the story. Maybe another day or something.” Marco chuckled as Jean’s face fell into a momentary pout. “Hold that, I need to capture that for future generations.”

Jean’s face automatically switched to outrage, olive green morphing to an ironically calm, deep blue. “Excuse you, I agree to model for you out of the kindness of my heart, and here you are trying to draw me at my worst!”

“I’m an artist, I’m supposed to take ugly things and make them tragically beautiful.” Marco teased, starting to feel a bit more comfortable. Jean pulled a face at him but Marco simply laughed as he set to work.

He worked in silence for at least an hour, scratching his pencils against the paper, but he’d never been good at tracking time when drawing. At least with paint, he could get a feel for how dry the medium was getting. When Jean moved around, he’d simply draw a different angle, and he’d already filled up three pages with various sketches, poses, expressions, and colors.

Eventually, Jean leaned over the bar to peer at the sketchbook to which Marco gave him the best skeptical eyebrow he could manage. “What, am I not allowed to look?” Jean asked, backing off a bit and raising his hands in surrender.

“Just not the last page, it isn’t done yet.” He replied, pushing the sketchbook over to Jean, a small blush. “And only the pages I’ve been working on, okay?” Letting someone look through your sketchbook was sort of like letting them look through your soul. And Marco has learned through the years that people tend to go through and pick out the parts they like and make fun of the parts they don’t, as if you hadn’t poured yourself and your hours into that little package of bound paper.

“You’re like, really good, holy shit. I really like these,” Jean’s eyes were glazed over as he looked at the two pages.

“I didn’t sell my soul to get tuition to a nice school for nothing, you know.” Marco replied easily.

“Wait, is that Mikasa in the corner there?” Jean asked, pressing a finger next to the small portrait.

Marco grinned sheepishly, “I do like to draw her, and she was cleaning right there, I figured it wouldn’t hurt.” He swatted Jean’s finger. “And no touching, I don’t want it to smear and I don’t have any fixative with me.”

Jean apologized under his breath and pushed the sketchbook back over to Marco and grabbed his cup to refill it. “So is this helping?” He asked over his shoulder.

“Yeah, a lot, actually. Um, would you mind coming over sometime to sit for a painting?” He asked, and Jean’s back straightened suddenly.

“Do I have to be naked for that?” He asked slowly, turning around and sliding the coke across the counter to Marco. His face was bright red and his shoulders seemed tight. The face clashed comically with the royal purple that had settled to hang around him for at least a good fifteen minutes.

“Oh, god no, I had my fill of awkward nude painting in college and now I only do it if the model is really into it. Though that’s usually a lot later in the process,” He shrugged and a chuckle escaped his lips. Relief seemed to flood out of every muscle of Jean’s body.

“Okay, maybe one day, but not the first time. That’s a little scary,” Jean laughed nervously, moving to mix a new drink for the person sitting at the other end of the bar.

Marco chuckled as Jean practically fled. When the bartender finally came back over, he grinned. “Definitely not the first time. You can use a sheet for modesty.” He let his words sink in and watched as sheer, poorly-disguised horror dropped onto Jean’s face.

“A-a sheet?” Jean certainly looked as pale as one.

“I mean, it’s pretty opaque, you can really only tell general shapes through it.” Marco wasn’t entirely sure how his face hadn’t given him away yet. He pretended to appear pensieve and Jean only went paler. It didn’t take long for Marco to bust out into full on laughing.

It took a moment, but Jean seemed to come to the realization that Marco was fucking with him. His face instantly reddened, and he glared at the artist. “You asshole! that was so not funny!” He pouted and Marco decided it was absolutely worth it.

A glance at his phone indicated that it was time to go home if he wanted to be anything resembling alive for his early shift the next day. He grabbed a few dollars and slid them toward Jean as a tip. “Thank you again, see you tomorrow?” He left the end of the statement open and Jean nodded stiffly. “I’m sorry for teasing you,” Jean’s pout only faded slightly.

“Whatever. I expect the biggest latte you are capable of serving me tomorrow, got it?”

“Deal.” He grinned, waving slightly as he walked out of the bar, sidestepping a grumbling Levi.

✿✿✿

The next day, Marco was in an unabashedly good mood. He felt elated, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Jean was going to be a great new model, and he could feel it. Hell, he’d even texted Petra about it. She’d been surprised to hear from him, but overall, she was glad he’d found someone.

Things were going well with her and the new guy, and for the first time since she’d told Marco about him, he hadn’t felt an impending sense of doom over it. That didn’t mean he liked the guy, Auruo had a weird scrunchy face and seemed like a dick in all honesty, but at least he seemed to make Petra happy.

“Dear God, Marco, it isn’t even nine a.m. and you’re all fuckin’ smiley. How many lattes have you even had?” Eren was rubbing at his eyes still, even if they’d been working for the upper part of an hour.

“What, can’t a guy be in a good mood?” Marco glanced over as Eren groaned.

The boy stretched his arms up with a yawn, “Not at this ungodly hour.” He answered simply, propping his head in his hands by the register.

Without prompting, Marco made a mocha with an extra shot of espresso for Eren in the biggest cup they had. Extra chocolate syrup and everything.

“Marco Bodt, has anyone ever told you that you are the most important human being to ever grace this earth?” Was the brunette’s response as Marco slid the caffeine in front of him. The red seemed to brighten just slightly as Eren took a sip happily.

The rest of the morning went smoothly, Eren was considerably more awake within the hour and Marco’s mood hadn’t fainted in the slightest. Sasha and Connie had accidentally (purposefully) made an extra batch of scones that they were all able to munch on without tracking how much they were eating to report back to Hanji and didn’t have to be scared of running out in case more customers requested them.

Around one, Marco spotted Jean walking in and automatically started the drink without question. The bartender didn’t even bother with the line and simply rounded his way near the counter where Marco was working. There were dark circles under his eyes.

“The biggest one you have.” Jean reminded him with a quiet groan.

“Good morning to you too sunshine,” Marco greeted him as he waited on the milk steamer. “The two a.m. shift didn’t treat you nicely?” He inquired, pouring the drink into an acceptable cup and pushing it over to Jean.

“God no. Some fuckface puked on the floor like ten minutes from the end of my shift and Levi already left so I had to clean it up then drive Mikasa home and I fucking hate Annie.” Jean looked like he still had a bit of bed head, and he was too endearing to take totally seriously.

“Just go drink your latte,” Marco shook his head as Jean grumbled and went to find a table.

“Did Jean just interact with you like he isn’t the king of awkward?” Eren asked, face mocking incredulity.

Marco simply rolled his eyes, “Rude.” He responded, already working on a drink for the next customer.

“Okay but seriously, that was weird.” Eren pushes from the register, and Marco sighed.

“Well I went to the bar last night and got to draw him, and I think we kind of got past the weird awkward thing.” Marco doesn’t know why he felt guilty for telling Eren, he just did. It was the same feeling he’d had before going to the bar, the feeling of being in high school all over again. Eren shook his head with a gentle smile.

“You’re ridiculous. Think you’ve found your new model?” Marco grinned wide at that.

“Absolutely. I might even be able to make a gallery, would you be cool with sitting for a painting for me? I need a couple to accompany the others.” Eren nodded.

“The answer is always yes, if you need anything, let me know, okay? I can provide all the breaks, lattes, and blow jobs you need.” Eren’s grin was cocky and Marco gave him a light smack to the back of the head.

“You’re the worst.”

“I love you too.” Marco shook his head, quiet laughter shaking his shoulders a bit.

“Speaking of which, though, I’m gonna take a break, you good?” Eren gave him a thumbs up and Marco took his leave to go take a seat across from Jean. “Feeling less like a zombie yet?”

“Only slightly.” He grunted, managing a half assed smile. Jean was a light blue, not far off from Armin’s. It seemed jarring compared to most of the bold colors he seemed to dance around.

“When are you free to come sit for a painting or two?” He asked finally, deciding Jean probably wasn’t going to add a lot to the conversation besides answers to direct questions.

“Depends how long you need me. If you have a day off, any of those times, otherwise next Tuesday Annie is taking my shift. Because she’s a bitch.” The bitterness was strong with this one.

“I can probably pester Hanji for Friday off, so we’ll try to finish a couple, then a few more next Tuesday?” He needed to get as much time in as he could before the color settled. Especially now that they’d gotten more comfortable around each other, it was really only a matter of time. For now, Jean had blended into a lavender tone, almost a lighter version of the color hanging just below his eyes.

The bartender made a noncommittal grunt that Marco decided to take as agreement. In his the corner of his eye, Marco spotted a slew of college age girls enter the shop and promptly stood up, “I can’t leave Eren alone for that, I’ll talk to you later?” Jean nodded and grunted again, and Marco made his way over to make drinks and keep Eren under control.

Luckily, the girls were all respectful, didn’t ask for anything only found at Starbucks, and tipped well. “Would tonight work?” Eren asked over his shoulder and it took Marco a moment to catch up.

“For the painting?” The brunette nodded, emptying the tip jar and splitting it up into four even piles. “Yeah that works.” He paused for a second, scrutinizing Eren’s face. “Mikasa has the car and you didn’t want to ask for a ride, did you?” He accused, laughing as Eren’s face automatically reddened.

“Maybe!” He retorted, breaking into a grin.

“Whatever, that’s fine. I think I want to work late on it though, you cool with just staying the night?” Marco asked and Eren raised an eyebrow.

“Clothes?”

“Just borrow some of mine, you act like we haven’t done this before.”

“You’ve worn those pants three times this week, and you’ve worn that shirt three times. I kind of doubt that you have clean clothes.” Eren pointed out and Marco waved a hand.

“Whatever we’ll stop by your place and grab clothes on the way over then.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Eren smiled happily, having gotten his way, before going to attend the next customer.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> friendly reminder that you can feel free to come find me on tumblr at jumpforjo!  
> I also track the tags fic: piw and fic: playing it wrong  
> Also! (as I'm sure quite a few of you have seen) lemonorangeline made a v cute wonderful comic for the fic which is where the dialogue with Eren offering breaks/lattes/blowjobs comes from! you can find it here: http://lemonorangelime.tumblr.com/post/83071330473/i-doodled-some-eren-marco-stuff-from-jumpforjos
> 
>  
> 
> Many many thanks to my beta, Mariam/constipatedwriter for making everything I write acceptable for the public eye and just generally putting up with me!  
> and many thanks to Sasha/allexche for making lots of art for this au and just being a positive, lovely person!   
> you can check out the original piece here: http://allexche.tumblr.com/post/71514650581/one-simply-does-not-draw-just-jeanmarco-cuddling  
> but you should 100% check out the rest of her art too! (it's amazing) (just saying) (there's more stuff for this au as well): http://allexche.tumblr.com/tagged/sasha+draws

**Author's Note:**

> Many many many thanks to my beta, Mariam! (constipatedwriter/hacheload) Without her, this chapter wouldn't have ever gotten done or been written half as well.  
> You can find me on tumblr at jumpforjo!  
> Comments make the world go round!


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